This pair of Otaries brooches comes from the “L’Arche de Noé” high-end jewelry series of Van Cleef & Arpels, which vividly creates the image of two sea lions facing each other in pairs. “Otary” means “sea lion” in English. The designer subtly integrated two purple spinels and tsavorites into the sea lion’s movements. The bright jewel tones naturally echo the playful sea lion shape.

The “L’Arche de Noé” series is inspired by the oil painting “The Entry of the Animals into Noah’s Ark” created by the Belgian painter Jan Brueghel the Elder in 1613, which depicts the different types of animals in “Bible Genesis”. In the scene of boarding Noah’s Ark, every animal appears in pairs.

In order to be faithful to the storyline, this pair of Otaries brooches are also two male and female pieces, creating two sea lions that are both dynamic and static-one is leaping and lifting a purple spinel, the other is resting on the tsavorite Stone side.

Both brooches are made of white gold, and the details are carefully depicted-the sea lion’s eyes are drop-shaped sapphires; the ears are made of polished white gold; the flippers are carved with white mother-of-pearl, and three-dimensional lines can be seen on the surface. Diamonds cover the round body of a sea lion, and a number of round-cut sapphires are dotted under the brooch, like waves lightly patting the sea lion’s abdomen.

The designer creates the entire brooch in the way of “sculpture” creation, so the back side of the work is also three-dimensional and complete, with diamonds and sapphires, showing the same gorgeous effect as the front. The hollow structure makes the brooch lighter and easier to wear, and you can see the exquisite craftsmanship on the back of the inlay.